


A Different Point of View

by SpencerRemyLvr



Series: The College AU Verse [4]
Category: Criminal Minds, Leverage
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Multi, Overheard Conversations, Protective Eliot Spencer, Spencer's too old for his age, college student!Spencer, cop!Eliot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-06 00:50:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5396597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpencerRemyLvr/pseuds/SpencerRemyLvr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An overheard conversation changes Eliot's view of his partner's new roommate</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Different Point of View

Eliot Spencer was not a happy man.

He’d just gotten off work and was more than ready to head back to his place where both of his partners were supposed to be waiting for him. A night with just the three of them, away from families and dorms and friends and _everything_ , sounded like the perfect end to a long damn day. Only, he was barely in his car when Alec called him, begging for Eliot to stop by his place and grab his backpack which he’d apparently _forgotten_. Sometimes Eliot swore he’d forget his head if it wasn’t attached to his body.

That was how he’d ended up here, pulling up outside of Alec’s door so he could go in and fetch the backpack he really didn’t want to let his young lover have, and which he very much intended to try to shamelessly distract him from using over the up and coming weekend. One of these days he was going to teach that kid the meaning of _relaxing_. It sure as hell didn’t involve school books or a ton of electronics. Maybe he’d convince Alec and Parker both to head on up to the mountains with him for a while this summer. He had a cabin up there with a lake out back that was full of some delicious fish.

Thinking of the horrified look that would be on Alec’s face at that suggestion was enough to entertain Eliot as he let himself into the apartment.

The first thing that struck him when he stepped inside was just how clean the whole place looked. That was definitely something new. Alec tended to forget little things, like cleaning up. A pig, Eliot often called him. Alec usually shot back with some sort of neat freak comment. Parker would let them argue it out for a while before she’d break it up. The last time she’d grabbed the edge of the mattress and dumped them all on the floor.

The cleanliness in here wasn’t Alec turning over some new leaf or anything like that. Eliot wasn’t stupid enough to believe that. He knew who was responsible for it. His eyes drifted back to the door that seemed to constantly be closed and he snorted lightly. Even though Eliot knew Alec had insisted more than once that Spencer didn’t have to clean up after them, the kid still did it.

Despite his earlier reservations, Eliot had found himself gradually warming up to Alec’s roommate. At first he’d thought that the whole quiet and shy thing was part of some act and that the kid was just using it as an excuse to stick back in his room and do all sorts of shit that Eliot really didn’t want around _his_ boy. But the more that he saw of Spencer and the more he heard about him, the more he realized that wasn’t the case. This kid was really, truly, _shy_. Quiet, shy, and more than a little jumpy. It was almost enough to make him feel bad for scaring him when he first moved in—something that Alec was _still_ pissed about.

It wasn’t like he could be blamed for feeling a little protective! The things that he’d learned about the kid hadn’t been all that great. Who cared if he somehow managed to keep it off his record? People still talked. And what people had to say about him wasn’t all that great. It would’ve been stupid for Eliot _not_ to worry.

Parker and Alec both liked him, though. Parker liked to pet at him and call him adorable, clearly not realizing just how uncomfortable it made the kid.

And yeah, okay, Eliot was warming up to him a bit, too. The kid kept the place clean, he hadn’t been in any trouble, he focused mostly on school or was out with a friend Alec said he’d met recently, he cooked, he always contributed to groceries and things, and he had this sort of magical ability to somehow guilt Alec into eating pretty much anything that he made. That gave him points in Eliot’s books. Alec liked to forget to eat when he got sucked into school or his games, especially those late night sessions with that Warcraft game he liked so damn much, and he’d get so hopped up on gummi frogs and orange soda he’d be bouncing off the walls and unable to sleep. Eliot wasn’t always there to force him to eat and Parker’s idea of feeding him was microwaving a Hot Pocket. But Spencer would just make up food and then bring him in some. Eliot had seen it. And he’d watched once as Alec had tried to turn it down, to insist that he was fine even though he hadn’t eaten real fucking food for over a day, but Spencer had just given him that puppy faced look of his, all open and worried looking and shit and the next thing Eliot knew, Alec was not only eating, he’d actually paused the damn game to do it.

Eliot shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned himself towards Alec’s room. It took only a few minutes to gather up what his boyfriend needed.

He was grabbing some body wash out of the bathroom for him, the little shit always tried to use Eliot’s and claim he didn’t have his own to use, when he heard the front door open and close. Eliot was just about to poke his head out and call out to the kid to let him know he was there when he heard Spencer talking. “Is everything okay?” The kid asked, worry coming through loud and clear in his voice. “Is Mom okay?”

There was no answer and then Eliot heard Spencer sigh. “Good.”

Kid must be on the phone. Part of Eliot didn’t want to disturb him. The other part of him was just too nosy for his own good. Despite knowing it was a dick move, he kept himself quiet, moving as soft as could be while he grabbed Alec’s razor and shaving cream, and he listened to the conversation going on in the living room.

“You can’t talk with her when she’s like that.” Spencer was saying to whoever he was talking to. “She doesn’t really register it, you know that. None of it’s going to get through. No, no, I know. I _know_.” There was a pause followed by another sigh, even deeper than the last. “Just, grab the CD player and put on the CD in the blue case. Yes, the blue one. It calms her down almost every single time. Dad, please, just trust me. It’ll work. And make sure to tell her that I’ll call later tonight, after dinner. She’s usually at her best then.”

Eliot leaned against the sink and cocked his head as he listened. Nothing that he’d heard or seen when he’d asked around about this kid had suggested that he had a sick family member. Not that that really excused anything; it made a few things make sense, though. It made even more sense when he heard the next part of the conversation.

There was the sound of something being shuffled around and set onto the stove. Then Spencer sighed once more and Eliot thought to himself that really, no kid should sound like that, not ever. Not that tired. No, not tired—exhausted. Utterly exhausted. “Yes, Dad.” Spencer aid, his voice heavy. “Yes. Of course. I’ll call the pharmacy and speak with them about setting up an auto-pay for Mom’s medications. I’ll make sure the check’s in the mail as well before the end of the day…yes, absolutely…no. No, don’t worry about it. It’s fine. I told you, I found a job and it pays well. It’s no hardship. If Mom needs it…of course. I’ll speak with you later—and don’t forget to let Mom know I’ll call tonight.”

The place went quiet and Eliot could clearly hear as Spencer set the phone down on the counter. There was a moment more of silence before the kid let out a snorted laugh that carried a heavy edge of cynicism to it. “Yeah.” Spencer said softly to himself. “It’s no hardship at all. Who cares if I need to eat? God forbid you be without booze or poker money.” There was one more deep sigh and then the sound of keys being gathered up. A second later he heard Spencer's footsteps cross the room and head out the door.

Eliot waited until he was sure the door had been shut and locked behind the kid. Only then did he let out a sigh of his own. Well, hell.

That definitely put an entirely different spin on the things Eliot knew about Spencer. From the way he’d sounded, the cynicism and the resignation both that had been present at the end, it wasn’t that hard to figure out that it was pretty common for Spencer to be sending his father money. Not just for him, but for his mother as well. Or, his mother’s care. Because just as obvious was the fact that she was sick in some sort of way. The medication remarks and the talk of ways to calm her were pretty good indicators of that. But what kind of father called up their teenaged son to ask them for money? Children weren’t supposed to support their parents! Yet the way Spencer had talked made it clear this was a normal thing. He was obviously used to supporting his father. He didn’t even protest it once during that conversation. He’d just agreed to send the money out as quickly as possible.

Eliot resolved to watch things just as closely as before, but for a different reason now. It was obvious this kid needed someone looking out for him. Eliot was determined to do just that.

As he let himself out of the apartment, he also resolved to start stopping by with groceries again like he used to do when Alec was low on cash. Spencer and Alec both were scrawny guys; neither one of them needed to miss out on a meal. And he wouldn’t let Spencer get away with not eating just because he hadn’t paid for the food. Eliot wasn’t afraid to growl at him until he ate, just the same as he did to Alec. Someone had to look out for these scrawny kids who didn’t have enough good sense to take care of themselves. Apparently that job fell to him.


End file.
